


Masks

by unchartedsea



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: Angst, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-26 09:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2647475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unchartedsea/pseuds/unchartedsea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pedro's costume party and a few days later. Balthazar and Pedro start feeling their masks slipping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Masks

_May 31 st_

He always enjoys Pedro’s parties, but Balthazar regrets the gorilla costume a little bit. I mean, it’s sweltering hot, and he has to keep taking off the mask. But more than that, he’s usually a well-dressed guy. Seeing some of the couples adorably dancing together—well, it’s vain, but he wishes he chose a nicer outfit.

I mean, it’s not like Pedro sees him that way, but he can dream, right? Even though Pedro is clearly crushing on Beatrice. All the ‘robot’ has done tonight is either wingman (which confuses Balthazar, because can’t Claudio just talk to Hero?) or chase after Beatrice the ‘ironic princess,’ making puppy-dog eyes that she doesn’t notice. Pedro the Prince Charming, huh? Fitting. A fairy tale romance with no room for a sweaty gorilla. Balthazar doesn’t drink much, but he looks for something now, hopefully to help swallow his bitter feelings down.

He’s not going to look for Pedro this time, though. A couple months ago at a birthday party, a slightly tipsy Balthazar had run into a very drunk Pedro snogging Melanie Smith in the kitchen. He hadn’t been able to keep the stricken look off his face before mumbling apologies and exiting, but he was hoping that Pedro just hadn’t seen. Or was too inebriated to remember. Either way, Pedro hadn’t mentioned it at all later, so that was that. If Pedro’s forgotten, he can, too.

 

Right after he’s found a beer in the kitchen and taken a sip, Pedro walks in. Or, rather, accidentally slams his shoulder into the doorframe. Most of his costume is gone, too, except the aluminum arm sleeves. “Ow. Heeey, Balthy.”

“Hey. Great party, man.”

“Yeah, well. Claudio decided to be a drama queen.” Pedro joins Balthy at the counter, pouring himself a shot of vodka and downing it. “Thought I was trying to steal Hero when I was being HIS wingman.”

Balthazar puts a hand on Pedro’s shoulder with concern. “You sure you want to drink more?”

“No. Not really.” The shotglass clinks loudly as Pedro places it down. “You know, I texted him and I made Hero call him, so he’s probably coming back so they can talk. But I’m still pissed. I mean, I’m not that kind of guy. Why would he think I’m that kind of guy?”

Balthazar carefully reaches for the shotglass and moves it out of Pedro’s reach. “Well you know him. He has a jealous streak.”

“More like paranoia. God, it’s not like I’m that desperate for a girlfriend. Seriously. I’ve never even looked at Hero like that.”

“Well, me neither, but…”

“But?”

Balthazar raises an eyebrow. He doesn’t really feel like coming out while Pedro’s drunk. Though he hasn’t really had to come out to most of his friends, since nobody else needs it spelled out the way oblivious Pedro does. “Well, I…already like someone.”

Pedro frowns and peers into Balthazar’s face, trapping him against the kitchen counter. Clearly the alcohol is starting to hit him. “No kidding! You never told me!”

Balthazar leans back to maintain some distance. The smell of vodka wafts towards him, and yet he can still feel his heart race as he makes eye contact and steadies his breathing. “I dunno. It doesn’t matter because it’s not gonna happen. So I’m giving up.” He sips his beer again, trying to make himself believe his own words.

Pedro pulls back. “…Oh. Really. But you’re—you’re so great, Balthy. That’s just not fair.”

Balthazar shrugs. “I think I’ll find love eventually. It doesn’t have to be now. I’m happy just being with you guys.”

For a second, Pedro stares at him with a look that might possibly be pity, which bothers Balthazar. Of all the people… But the expression morphs into a grin. “Wow. So mature.” Pedro instinctively reaches out to ruffle Balthazar’s hair.

“Hey!” Balthazar laughs and shoves him away. “I can’t face everyone if you mess up my hair.”

“But you’re wearing a gorilla mask!”

“True, true.” Balthazar grins. At least he can enjoy tonight. “Come on, forget Claudio. Let’s go dance again.”

 

* * *

 

_June 3 rd_

Saturday night had been weird. Really weird. I mean, besides the Claudio jealousy thing. Balthazar had managed to cheer him up, and get him to dance, but then suddenly he kept leaning forward near Balthy’s face and Balthy had pulled back, but he was blushing, and then Pedro was confused and his heart was thudding and his face was hot.

It wasn’t normal.

The party had ended soon after that, but waking up the next morning, Pedro had thought about all the things he had been feeling the night before and felt…regret? Fear? Happiness? Some strange combination of emotions that was definitely the opposite of comfortable. It was as if…

No. Not his best friend. Definitely not. They were just having a good time. Still, he decides that maybe he won’t hang out with Balthazar as much this week. Just so that he can get rid of these emotions and not be weird. Plus, he also had a great time with Bea, too. He can just chill with her.

Beatrice is funny. She has the sharpest wit Pedro’s ever seen. She’s cute, and despite her strong opinions and hot-headed temper, she can be quite laidback. They’ve been friends for so long that there’s no hint of awkwardness.

That would be different than trying to date a girl he didn’t know well. He’d be more invested. And maybe he’d stop this tendency of looking for something better in a relationship, or at least something different. Because he can’t put his finger on it, but no matter who he starts being interested in, something is always missing. A certain comfortable air. A person who knows him almost as well as he knows himself.

Specifically, a girl.

Why not try it?

 

He accompanies Bea to her house after school. She’s filming a video with him, talking about Hero and Claudio’s budding romance, and she fake-swoons. “Excuse me while I weep on my bed and wait for my Prince Charming! Oh!”

Before he can think about it, he says, “I could be your Prince Charming.” He pauses for a second, only for his heart to spiral downwards as he hears her laugh. And then she looks at his face and he realizes that it’s too late to make it a joke.

“W-we don’t have to put this up, I-I’ll just cut this out—“

“No, no, it’s fine, I don’t mind, it’ll clear things up for people.” Beatrice. Beatrice is the kind of person he likes. He’s okay with everyone knowing that. “It’s good. People will laugh. It’s funny.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I just can’t take you seriously.” She giggled. “In a good way.”

Well, it hurts his vanity to be rejected. Especially with laughter. But Pedro has to conclude, walking away from her doorstep, that it doesn’t quite feel like all the things he’s heard about heartbreak. Or love.

 

* * *

 

Balthazar opens the door. “Hey, man.” He looks a bit nervous, but it’s a regular thing for Pedro to show up at his doorstep, even on a Tuesday afternoon.

“What’s up.” Pedro walks in and kicks off his shoes casually, leading the way to Balthy’s room.

“Just songwriting.”

“…Wow.” Balthy’s desk is swathed with papers of sheet music and scribbled lyrics. He only does this sort of thing when he’s inspired or worried. But if he’d been inspired, Balthazar would have asked Pedro to watch TV or something until he was finished. “Balthy, you stressed about something?”

“Um, not- not really.” Pedro frowns, because Balthy’s not really meeting his eyes, but he lets it go. “Anyway. How’s your day been?”

Pedro plops down into the desk chair. “Well, I was at Beatrice’s place, making a video about me not stealing Hero from Claudio.”

Balthazar chuckles and moves to sit on his bed. “Yeah, that.”

“Believe me, I know. Totally ridiculous. Anyway, I…asked her out. Sorta. On camera.”

Balthazar just stares at him, frozen. The reaction surprises Pedro a bit, brings that turbulent feeling back to his stomach. But then Balthy picks up a pen and nonchalantly asks, “And?” 

 

He’s holding his breath in dread and refusing to let his hands shake and he absolutely cannot let Pedro know that he’s in love with him, not when he’s about to hear the guy announce his new girlfriend, and he’s going to fake it until the very end because this is his best, best friend.

“She laughed. And rejected me.”

“…Oh. Shit. Sorry, man.” Balthazar glances away to hide his relieved expression.

“No, it’s cool. I…” Pedro gives Balthazar a thoughtful but incomprehensible look. “It was awkward, but I think I realized that I don’t really like her. That way. I mean, we’re best friends, but that’s it, you know? Plus we’re not too well-suited for each other.”

Balthazar’s trying to resist from reading more into this. Is he trying to assure Balthazar that he doesn’t like Beatrice? Is he actually talking about how he and Balthazar are better as friends? Does he know? But of course, Pedro is and always will be dense. It can’t be anything more than a casual update. “I…well, what do you think isn’t compatible?”

Pedro leans back in his chair, clasping his hands behind his head. “She’s too…blunt, I guess. Doesn’t really think before she speaks. And she’s a hothead for sure. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle it. I think any relationship with her would involve too much drama, you know? Still, that was a blow to my ego.” He grimaces. “I mean, she laughed like I’d purposely made a joke.”

Balthazar can’t trust himself to be neutral on the subject, so he has to choose his words carefully. “She’s a…straightforward person, but you know. You’re Pedro. All-around great guy. There are other people out there in the world.” He’s not going to specifically say other _girls_ , but that’s just self-indulgence.

Pedro shrugs. “I don’t know, though. Like, with most relationships, you don’t even really know the person. I just…I thought maybe somebody I knew well and was comfortable with would be a good match. Right?”

Balthazar’s heart is now hammering, but he plays it cool as much as he can. “Yeah. Right. No, I get you.”

Pedro nods. “Anyway, if you’re songwriting, I’ll leave you to it. Just wanted to talk about it. But thanks for listening. I feel better.” He stands up.

“Uh. Pedro. I just…” His throat feels dry. “You’re okay, right?”

Pedro’s look somehow holds more weight than usual. “Yeah. I’m okay. See you tomorrow. Good luck with those songs.”

“Yeah, uh, thanks. See you.”

 

Balthazar has no idea how to feel about this conversation. It’s a regular thing for Pedro to show up on his doorstep, but he also hadn’t heard from him since the party. Which was definitely somewhere beyond Balthazar’s comfort zone. For a few minutes there, Pedro had been leaning close, blushing, grinning at Balthazar in that flirty way that was usually reserved for…well, not him. He might have been imagining it, or Pedro might have just been drunk, but he’s gone with Pedro to parties and this one was different. He doesn’t quite know how to interpret it.

But now he showed up at the door saying he confessed to Beatrice. At which point Balthazar felt like his heart imploded. Except Pedro didn’t actually like her, which was totally confusing. It didn’t feel like Pedro was saving face; it was more like he was trying to figure something out by saying it out loud. And everything afterwards was somehow nonchalant and yet possibly full to the brim with subtext that Balthazar can’t be sure was even there.

One thing is certain. If his feelings don’t somehow make it through Pedro’s thick skull, he’s going to lose his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> This was initially supposed to be a full Pedrazar story throughout the series, but I felt like this was the strongest section and I wasn't getting inspired for the rest. But if you want any Pedrazar one-shots, I'm taking requests!


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